November 2, 2018

Omnipod Announces Tidepool Loop Agreement

“As a first step in our support of interoperability, we are pleased to share that Insulet is the first pump partner for Tidepool’s Loop Program. For those who aren’t familiar, Tidepool is a non-profit organization that is working to get an open source, iOS-based Looped app and algorithm, approved by the FDA. Together, we are developing an interoperable, automated insulin delivery system that allows Omnipod DASH to be controlled by the Tidepool Loop algorithm from an iPhone. This partnership is additive to our internal Omnipod Horizon program and offers a potentially faster avenue to market, an automated insulin delivery system with iPhone control for our Podders, and a terrific way for us to support the DIY diabetes community.” (About 23 minutes into earnings call starts getting more interesting for PWD aka less businessy at about 20:00)

At first blush, it seemed to me that the Bluetooth Omnipod DASH offered little more than an evolutionary step for the Pod, particularly without smartphone control. Nicer new controller but still something extra to carry.

Well, now revolutionary is more accurate. They announced the path to phone control and interoperability aka multiple Automated Insulin Deliver algorithms.